Tag Archives: better living

So it’s been a while since my last post, but I have by no means fallen off the face of the earth (it is in fact round). Life has been good, healthy, and normal. There isn’t much to report in regards to fighting the good fight.

But… I have embarked on a new journey and this is the reason as to why I’ve been absent.

When I start this just over 3 months ago, I had little knowledge as to where to start, and that was scary. I am however a very good “googler” and I spent anywhere from 3-6 hours a night researching my next moves and the things I felt would help me live a healthier life.

In this time I came to a couple realizations, 1. There are websites with good content, but there is a lack of personal connection to the site or 2. The sites are smaller, well intentioned, but highly unorganized and not user friendly.
I’ve had the pleasure of sharing what I’ve learned with everyone who expresses their desire to improve certain things about them and I’ve met all sorts of people who have taught me so much.

So it all hit me one day….why don’t I combine my new found passion for healthy living with my passion for web/graphic design. This is why I have started LYF – Live Yours Fully. LYF is a website about journeys, about taking that first step, and about having a place that supports your new choices in life.
Studies show that 95% of all “dieters” fail within 1-5 years with the main reason being that they lack a surrounding support system of like minded people. While some may say “well there’s facebook groups”, but studies also show the content in your feed on Facebook actually effects your mood. If you are being bombarded with negativity in your feed…that will effect you, and lets be honest, most things on Facebook are negative.

In the last couple weeks I have been hooked up with some professionals with very impressive resumes who want to contribute to the sites content. We are currently coding out the site and meeting with potential contributors and the goal is to have the site live in the next 60-90 days.

For now, you can sign up on line to learn more about the launch of the site and participate in giving feedback to help us better develop the site.

Like this:

The IF stands for intermittent fasting. How I never knew about this structure of eating blows my mind, but I started to think back to my first couple days of my cleanse. I thought about how good I actually felt and it wasn’t till that third day where my body actually shutdown and started to preserve fat for energy. I’ve seen the term intermittent fasting on some other sites but they never really dove in to the whole concept.

If you don’t already know what intermittent fasting is, an easy way to describe it would be:

You limit your caloric consumption for short periods, followed by longer periods of fasting, or no caloric intake. The periods of fasting can vary from 16 to 48 hours, but during this time you only consume water. When you fast, your body uses first your blood sugar, then your fat reserves for energy. The more the ratio of sugar to fat utilized shifts, the more fat you will burn.

Some of the benefits of fasting are as follows:

Activates Human Growth Hormone

According to the website the Lean Look, intermittent 24-hour fasts are especially beneficial because after you’ve fasted for about 18 hours your body releases human growth hormone, which allows the body to burn fat and maintain muscle. This means you have six hours of accelerated fat-burning.

Trains Your Body to Burn Fat

“Perfect Health for Kids” reports that fasting forces your body into fat-burning metabolism by temporarily depriving it of the sugars it would normally burn for fuel. This not only burns fat in the short term while you’re fasting, but resets your body to burn more fat for fuel during normal eating.

Regulates Blood Sugar

You might associate not eating with feelings of intense hunger, but intermittent fasting can have the opposite effect, notes “Perfect Health for Kids.” Hunger is mainly caused by dips in blood sugar, but when you are fasting your body is burning fat at a steady rate, so you don’t feel ravenous.

Improves Eating Habits

According to “Fasting: The Ultimate Diet,” regular fasts help change your attitude toward food. Instead of being dependent on it, you can gain clarity about your diet and determine what your body really needs for optimum function. Eating right energizes your metabolism.

Slows Aging

By giving your body a rest from normal digestion, fasting can slow the aging process, according to “Fasting: The Ultimate Diet.” This is significant because one of the primary effects of aging is a slower metabolism. The younger your body is, the faster and more efficient your metabolism’s fat burning potential.
Now…I only started this a couple days ago, but so far it makes complete and perfect sense. I’ve only craved things that are going to nourish my body to it’s full potential and the couple workouts I’ve done while fasting have been amazing, no lack of energy whatsoever.

I once talked to someone about how I feel like you can shock your body to get better results in your diet, the same as you’d do with your workout routines. That person thought I was crazy for thinking this, but to me, this is exactly what I was talking about. If you’re looking for something different, I recommend it at this point and I’m excited to see the results over time. If you’ve hit a wall, definitely give this a try.

It’s funny how our heart plays tricks on us. You think you have something, but the blinders are on, things aren’t so clear to you, and then it takes you months to finally realize you were better off all along. As I’ve said up front about this whole journey is that it started with a girl. I didn’t get the girl because I was overweight and because people judged and she listened and in return judged me instead of listen to her heart. But I got something in return…happiness, and that’s what this is about.

I’ve often believed that the best things come to you when you’re not looking for them and 14 weeks ago I started this wanting to shut myself off from the world, get to work, lose weight, and get the girl back. I was angry, I was bitter, and I didn’t understand why someone who claimed “you’re everything I’ve ever wanted in someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with” would do the things they did. If you make claims like that, you can’t back down…you lock that person up and you don’t take them for granted, don’t be selfish, and don’t worry what others think.

But today I realized, as shitty as it was, that whole scenario was one of the best things to happen to me. I’m 50 lbs lighter, I’ve made improvements in every aspect of my life, and guess what…I unexpectedly met a person who has far exceeded what I find the word beautiful and amazing to mean.

I cannot even begin to explain how happy I’ve been, no fighting, no petty bullshit, no lies, no hiding things, no trust issues…just someone I can be myself around and someone who is by my side through this journey….literally in the gym with me. Someone who has the guts to give me shit if I get off track and most importantly someone who has respect for themselves and that’s why she gives me respect in return.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I’m not in some serious relationship, I’m sticking to what I told myself I’d do and that’s just live life and enjoy what comes along. Am I claiming I met the love of my life, no. But guess what, I’m happier than I’ve been in the last year and it’s because of this person.

I guess all I can say is, don’t settle. Find something or someone that makes you forget the past. Begin again…but never give up, move on and live life to the fullest.

Is it wrong that it makes me kind of happy to know she’s in a shitty relationship because she chose someone who doesn’t care about her over me, maybe it is, but ya know what…some times people make stupid decisions and all you can do is forget about them and move on. Life isn’t fair or easy, just move on and never go back to the mistakes or past…..NEVER!

Hope everyone else has a beautiful rest of the day!
From,
the guy with a big smile on his face today

I have a tattoo on my left wrist that represents this exact picture, I’ve always felt that if you don’t love what you do then why do it at all…you only have once chance at life, don’t short change yourself during the process.

No…this isn’t that sort of bible, although the name is based around a belief I have towards the bible.

I’m by no means going to get in to religion, but I believe the bible is a tool to follow and help outline your life.

Therefore, I have been researching every muscle/muscle group of the body and compiling different workouts that I feel fit within what I’m trying to accomplish, and I’m putting them together in one book. So far this has been good for multiple reasons. I’m learning about the muscles that make up the human body, how each one works, and what functions it supports. I feel like if you know that, then you know the purpose of what you’re doing. Along the way I’ve been also learning about different precautions as well as developing a good idea as to how much and how often to work certain parts of the body so that they are proportionate as I develop.

This may be ignorance, but I never truly realized how much the glutes support your lower back and therefore, I’ve put more focus on them, as well as my core and I think it’s been a good 25 days since I’ve had any back pain in the last 10 years. This is the FIRST time I’ve actually been able to alleviate my back pain through work outs. (BIG Smile)

I also am starting to understand that, it’s about the little things. For example, do you have a double chin or a little extra fat under there you want to get rid of? Even some of the skinnier people I know have em…well, there’s about 12 workouts that help get rid of that. They aren’t something you’re going to do in the gym, but it’s something subtle you can do at home, or any time throughout your day actually.

It’s things like this that I’m learning and that is why I’ve instituted a “maintenance day”. On Saturday I’ve decided to do a full body workout focusing more on the little things that are secondary that we tend to over look.

I told someone I was working on my finger strength and they thought I was crazy. Well…we use our fingers all day long, in fact, I just used them to type these 380 words I just reached with the number 380. Finger strength is crucial to many little things, it’s going to make my lifts a little bit easier when I’m fighting gravity holding a heavy weight in my hand. I truly feel that finger strength could be the difference between on less or one more rep.

I always say it, but I don’t expect anyone to go to certain lengths, but just stop and think about where you’re maybe struggling the next time, break it down, and focus on the smaller muscles that are some times harder to target. In the big picture, it’s going to improve your core lifts, but don’t go crazy and treat them like they are a core muscle group.